My Return to Malawi - Part 2

It is hard to believe that 15 months have passed since I left Malawi in July 2008 having completed the first stage of the research effort. The past months have been spent having interviews translated into English, reading the hundreds of lines of dialogue, and dealing with computer malfunctions. On the flip side I have had a wonderful time reading, analyzing, and thinking about what the religious leaders, traditional healers, and people living with HIV/AIDS had to say about the current crisis.

The trip to Africa is a long one, but was made easier by my discovery of the wonderful international airline Emirates. (I highly recommend it!) The first leg of the trip was 15 hours from San Francisco to Dubai and it was the longest flight I had been on to date. Once I landed in Malawi, being the social animal that I am, it is wonderful to see the familiar faces of my Malawi friends and colleagues with whom I will be connected to forever.

The main purpose of the return trip is to present the research project findings at two clergy conferences, one in Zomba and the other in Blantyre. As you may recall Dr. Sally Rankin from the School of Nursing is the Principal Investigator of the NIH R01 grant examining how faith-based organizations are addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis in Malawi and she is my mentor on my diversity supplement grant. My role at the conference will be to moderate a panel that includes a religious leader, a traditional healer, and an individual who is HIV positive. The topic to be discussed is how can religious leaders and traditional healers come together to help those who are living with HIV/AIDS and their families. In addition we are collecting interviews from 10 more traditional healers.

This is part two of the journey and I am confident that it will an interesting and rewarding experience.